An organisation encompassing Europe's national telecommunications regulators should be set up to ensure the harmonisation of spectrum use and other telecoms issues across the continent, the European Parliament's industry committee has said.

If approved and convened, BERT would co-ordinate mobile broadband spectrum and fixed-line next-generation access (NGA), as well as dealing with the spectrum that will be freed up by the digital switchover.

The committee has made amendments to the draft Electronic Communications Framework Directive, and has now asked the Commission to make a legislative proposal for a "radio spectrum action programme", the statement said.

The directive would, if adopted, "require member states to ensure that any technology or any service can use any frequency available for electronic communications services, in line with national frequency allocation plans and with the International Telecommunication Union's Radio Regulations", according to the statement.

National regulators such as Ofcom may have to report to the putative body, the statement continued. "MEPs propose a new 'co-regulation' procedure which would require national regulatory authorities to consult the Commission and BERT before taking regulatory decisions. The Commission may require the national regulatory authority to amend the draft measure if BERT considers the measure inappropriate or ineffective."